Thursday Caps Clips: Hurricane Warning

Your savory breakfast links:

• Continuing our look at the Metropolitan Division's top players, with a look at the wingers. [Rink (LW, RW)]
• Recaps and other assorted musings on last night's shootout loss to the Hurricanes from Vogs, Monumental video (Trotz, Holtby, Chorney, Galiev, Latta), NHL.com, CSNMA, Stars and Sticks, and from Raleigh, News & Observer, Cardiac Cane, and Canes Country.
  • Preseason Alex Ovechkin is in midseason form, apparently:
    
  • Listen to the voice of the Caps, John Walton, call the goals from last night's action. [Capitals Voice (Ovechkin/Galiev, Latta)]
• News and notes from yesterday's pregame skate:
  • In general. [Dump 'n Chase, Monumental video (Trotz, Johansson, Rinkside Update)]
  • Barry Trotz is looking for a lot more out of Stanislav Galiev than he's seen so far (or at least up until last night). [WaPo, CSNMA]
  • With just a few preseason games remaining, Trotz is using every last minute to tinker with his lines. [WaPo]
  • While recovering from offseason hip surgery, Nicklas Backstrom has been kept away from the ice during training camp... until now. Best news? Best news. [Monumental video, Caps OT, NHL.com, WaPo, CSNMA, RMNB]
    • That said, it would be wise of both the Caps and Backstrom to be patient with his recovery. [Pressbox DC]
• TSN's top 50 players are revealed, with all kinds of ridiculousness built in. See if you can spot it! [TSN]
• Ranking all 30 starting goalies by tier. [ESPN ($)]
• Just what should we make of Tom Wilson? [THW]
• Season previews from lands near and far:
  • The pieces are in place for the Caps to hopefully extend their playoff run. [NHL.com]
  • Among those pieces? T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams, who are just some of the reasons to give the Caps optimism. [NHL.com]
  • Contenders? Perhaps... [NHL.com]
  • The X-factors for the Caps this year. [NHL.com]
  • Ed Frankovic previews the 2015 season. [WNST]
  • "Washington Capitalsilla on edessään suuri kausi." Indeed. [yle.fi]
• $10 million later, Verizon Center has been all spiffified and snazzied up in time for the season to start. [Monumental]
• As the Caps near the end of training camp, the Hershey Bears are kicking off theirs. [Caps Outsider]
  • Chris Bourque is one of a handful of recent Caps' cuts to make his way up to Hershey - a place with which he is well acquainted. [Lancaster Online]
  • The snazzy new HD scoreboard at Giant Center is finally unveiled. [Patriot-News (and video)]
• Why the Caps should claim Steve Oleksy off of waivers (and we'll assume it goes beyond just "because we like him"). [RMNB]
• Bidding farewell to our pal Alex "Prew or False" Prewitt, as he prepares to leave us behind for the greener pastures of Sports Illustrated. [Stars and Sticks]
• Tom Wilson is a pretty good wingman, even when he isn't aware he's being one. [RMNB]
• More important and incredibly serious information on PUPPIES. [CSNMA]
• Finally, happy 46th birthday to Igor Ulanov and happy 39th to Jaroslav Svejkovsky.